We seem to live in a world hell bent on greater and greater complication. Just try a simple phone call to a large company and see how many buttons you have to push to actually speak to a real person. Think of how many new laws are passed by State and Federal Governments on a daily basis. All for our own good, of course! Can you service your own car these days? Just lift the hood and............forget it!
It seems that anything we set out to do has a set of strict rules and regulations governing how that particular task must be performed. You are virtually beaten before you start.
We are told on a daily basis by "Those Who Know" what we should and should not eat, how we should sleep, and how, why, and when we should work out. I wonder how many people set out with the very best of intentions to get back in shape, get a "How To" book or video and immediately give up. Who needs another complication.
There are all the rules - chapter after chapter after chapter. And don't you dare break them!
But wait!
I've got an idea.
Throw out the rule book.
I have just given you permission to throw out the rule book.
Let's get liberated at last. Now, understand, I'm talking about your workouts here. 'Fraid I can't do a damn thing about those governing bodies or the police. Those rules you are just going to have to live with I guess.
What I want you to consider is a set of bench presses where you don't have to go all the way down to your chest or lock out at the top on each rep or perform each and every rep at a certain "best" speed. Think of a set of curls where you don't curl all the way through the full range. You may just be happy doing half curls.
For a change don't go to failure on each set. Think about always doing partial reps.
Guess what happens when you start working out by doing only partial reps on all your exercises - hey presto! No more sore joints or injuries is what happens. But - that's not following the rules set by "Those Who Know"! Yeah? Well guess what? It works.
By throwing out the rules and allowing sloppy and partial, sometimes very partial reps I've started to make gains again. The enjoyment meter on my workouts is also reading high again.
Perhaps, just perhaps, 10 reps is not the Golden Rule. Try 15, 20 even. At the moment I'm making the best gains ever doing 20 reps a set, partial reps, sometimes full reps, sometimes only like 10 degrees of arc for the whole set (gives a great pump, by the way), any speed I feel like, resting between sets whatever feels good on the day.
See what I mean? - by changing my focus away from strictly by the book workouts to whatever works and feels good on the day both my enjoyment and results have skyrocketed.
Back in the old days of bodybuilding now known as "Old School Bodybuilding" when those guys had the best bodies they also had a lot less rules. They just did what they could do with the apparatus they had at hand - sometimes just a set of dumbbells. At the start, benches for bench presses didn't exist. They built great chests doing presses on the floor. That's right - there elbows never when past there body! And they still built huge chests!
The thing is - if you can get back to enjoying your workouts unhampered by all those rules and regulations you are much more likely to keep on keeping on - which of course is the doorway to success at anything.
For a lot more info take the time to checkout this site - you will love it!
http://www.PalmieriBodybuilding.com
'Till next time.
